Top Highlights
“‘Don’t let the Bible become just another textbook.’” (source)
“The Hebrew word for ‘meditating’ (הגה, hagah) on the Lord’s ‘instruction’ (as in Josh 1:8 and Psa 1:2) includes reading aloud, as the verb literally means ‘to mutter.’” (source)
“Leviticus finds its greatest relevance for Christian theology in the sacrifices that needed to be continually offered to God to maintain covenant relationship. Without reference to sacrifice in Leviticus, we cannot fully comprehend the passion of Jesus. Hebrews 9 appeals to the institution of sacrifice and understands Jesus as both the high priest and the sacrificial offering that restores right relationship to God. The well-worn Christian belief that we are ‘saved by the blood of the lamb’ has its roots in Leviticus—the book that so many have deemed unbefitting of the stuff of faith. Christ’s passion, refracted through Leviticus, sets out to achieve the same ends for us now as it did for ancient Israel: restoring the covenant relationship between a holy God and his people.” (source)
“Another phrase John uses in this passage might seem like a minor detail. Jesus acknowledges his mother by addressing her as ‘woman’ when she tells him that the host has run out of wine (John 2:4). Jesus addresses Mary this way only one other time in John’s Gospel—in John 19:26, when he is dying on the cross and pouring out his blood, the wine of the new covenant (see Mark 14:23–24). By including Jesus’ address to Mary in both of these accounts, John invites us to anticipate the significance of the cross through the changing of water into wine. Jesus’ first miracle of deliverance foreshadows the greater act of deliverance that will follow.” (source)
